Salem Health couldn’t be more proud of its affiliation with OHSU Partners, which entered into an agreement with Oregon’s Health CO-OP to begin offering coverage through the insurance exchange. Tuality Healthcare and Adventist Health are also part of this new endeavor.
In a message labelled “Urgent,” Cheryl Wolfe, president and CEO, announced the news, reassuring her medical staff and board of directors that Salem Health would “assume a predictable range of financial risk that is well within our capacity to manage.”
But, she failed to mention that the preliminary rate increases requested by the CO-OP are among the highest in the state, which could indicate a healthy rate of return for Salem Health in 2017.
The CO-OP is asking for a 32 percent increase in the individual market, which is only .3 percent higher than its nearest competitor, Moda Health at 32.3 percent. And, in the small group arena, the CO-OP stands at the top rung, asking for a 17 percent, compared to Moda at 12.4 percent.
However, the proposed increases for the OHSU Partners insurance plan will be significantly less than the quoted percentages above because of the narrower network, according to Rob Sumner, director of sales, who, when asked, refused to share the precise percentages, saying he didn't want specific percentages "floating around" because the rate requests are subject to review by the Insurance Commissioner. As a clarification point, all the proposed rate increases by all the insurers must be approved by the Commissioner.
Wolfe did remind her medical staff that Salem Health’s mission remains constant -- “to improve the health and well-being of the people and communities we serve.”
She also hinted that relationships with other insurers were in the works, saying, “We expect to share news of other relationships soon.”
The Insurance Division will hold public hearings on the rate requests on June 22-24, with the schedule announced shortly.
Here are the average rate requests for 2017 in the individual market:
ATRIO Health Plans 15.0% BridgeSpan Health 18.9% Health Net Health Plan 0.0% Kaiser Health Plan 14.5% Moda Health Plan 32.3% Oregon Health CO-OP 32.0% PacificSource Health Plans 15.2% Providence Health Plan 29.6% Regence BlueCross BlueShield 17.9% ZOOM+ Performance Health 22.6%
In the small group market, these are the average rate requests:
ATRIO Health Plans 4.3% Health Net Health Plan 10.2% Kaiser Health Plan -5.0% Moda Health Plan 12.4% Oregon Health CO-OP 17.0% PacificSource Health Plans 0.0% Providence Health Plan 7.9% Regence BlueCross BlueShield -2.9% Samaritan Health Plans 9.4% United Healthcare Insurance -3.9% United Healthcare of Oregon -2.7% ZOOM+ Performance Health -3.7%"For the next two months, we will analyze the requested rates to ensure they adequately cover costs without being too high or too low," said Insurance Commissioner Laura Cali. "Our open process allows Oregonians to see everything we do and provide comments on the filings that affect them."
Preliminary decisions will be announced June 16, with final decisions released July 1.
Diane can be reached at [email protected].
